A New York City dad has shared a refreshingly honest look at family life in a modest living space.
Tyler Moore (@tidydad) shared a reel on Instagram, walking viewers through his two-bedroom apartment which he shares with his wife, Emily, and their three daughters: Mabel, 10, Matilda, eight, and Margaret, five.
“We live in a railroad-style apartment,” Tyler told Newsweek. “It’s long and narrow, and you have to walk through one room to get to the next one, like connected railroad cars on a train. It might sound strange, but it’s what we’ve adapted to, and it works for our family.”
Tyler, who works as a teacher in New York City, said one of the biggest misconceptions about living small is the assumption that the answer is always more room.
While another bathroom might be appealing, he and Emily often weigh what that would mean financially—and what they might lose in return.
“What would that mean for our rent? And what would that mean for the other things we value, like travel, experiences and discretionary spending as a family?” he questioned.
Tyler likened the mindset to what he calls a “hermit crab mentality,” where people accumulate more possessions until their homes feel too tight, then assume a bigger house is the solution. “But sometimes the real solution is simply less stuff,” he added.
As their daughters have grown, the apartment has evolved. Over time, the parents reconfigured their space so that every piece of furniture works double duty.
When Matilda was a toddler, they swapped bedrooms, giving their daughters the larger room. “We realized something simple: we didn’t need the floor space, but they did.”
After Margaret was born, they added a triple bunk bed, which all three girls still share. A narrow connecting room was converted into a playroom, while a former pantry became a toy‑rotation closet—small changes that made daily life more manageable.
Despite frequent online debate about whether families should upsize or leave the city, Tyler knows this setup works for his family.
“I don’t want to spend hours of my life commuting on a train just so our family can have a bigger house or a bigger backyard that we’re not even home to enjoy,” he said. “Instead, we get something that feels much more valuable: time.”
Tyler’s reel is going viral on Instagram, racking up over 613,000 views and counting. In the comments, users praised the dad of three for sharing realistic content online.
“I needed to see this today,” one wrote. “Thank you for the reminder that we can make small spaces work.”
“I am Italian and for us is totally normal to live all together in small spaces and I loved it!” another added.
“I love how you show the uniqueness of NYC apartments. It’s not all glass walled penthouses,” a third said.
As the writer behind Tidy Dad, Tyler believes many people were relieved to see an everyday home, not a curated fantasy.
“For our family, living in a smaller space in one of the greatest cities in the world continues to pay dividends in other areas of our lives,” he said.
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